Page 93

"I told you I'd be tough competition to beat." I ruffle her hair to piss her off even more and brush past her. "Yo, Caleb. When these guys out there come in for lunch, the first round of coffee and pastries is on me."

"Got you." He sets down the glass he was cleaning, the corners of his mouth twitching. "You’re something else. It's never a boring day with you around."

Is he serious? It’s taking a carousel to get Caleb to display anything aside from indifference to me? Or has Lauren finally unlocked a level of emotion-display in him?

"A goddamn carousel?" Lauren repeats an octave higher and pokes my chest. "I hate you, but also I'm so damn impressed, Kieran. I fucking hate you. Damnit. I thought we had this in the bag."

"What can I say?" I'm pretty sure I shoot her the widest grin I can without splitting my face. "You're a sucker. Deal with it."

"Oh, I'm a sucker, all right." She wiggles her eyebrows. "And you are not pointing out the innuendo, Kieran." She playfully swats my arm. "Which can only mean one thing: You got laid. Congratulations!"

"What's going on?" Nic suddenly appears next to her and eyes me from my forehead down to my shoes. "Oh yeah, he got laid."

"Now I know what he meant by the glow he always mentions." Lauren nods, cocking an eyebrow. "Good for you, Kieran. Genuinely, good for you."

"Right?" Nic adds. "We were getting worried."

Ahw, how nice. Wait. About what exactly?

"Worried how?" I cross my arms in front of my chest.

Caleb slides the cappuccino he made for me across the counter, and I wordlessly tap the glass display above the pastry I want today. I'm going with a simple cinnamon roll. Sometimes you’ve got to go back to the basics.

"Listen, in today's landscape..." Lauren waves her hand through the air in a vague gesture. "You never know."

"What if you'd slipped to the wrong side of the internet?" Nic gasps in exaggerated shock.

“The side of alpha male boot camps and half naked, ‘testosterone unlocking’ group hugs in a forest.” Lauren puts the back of her hand to her forehead and pretends to faint.

"You saw my character arc going from annoyance at being single to alpha male podcast bro?" I stare at the two of them, mouth agape. It’s so ridiculous, I can’t even be mad. "Seriously?"

"Stranger things have happened." Nic pats my shoulder, a haunted shadow in her gaze.

"Anyway..." I grab my coffee and pastry and follow the two of them to their table. Kylie is also here. However, she is one of the people currently glued to the window and watching the workers with childlike fascination.

"A carousel. I can't believe it." Nic drums her fingertips on the wooden tabletop. "Such a genius idea.” She turns to Lauren. “How did we not get it?"

"Maybe we were too focused on the theme." Slowly their heads turn to me, and their glares are absolutely deadly. "Remind me, Kieran. What does a carousel have to do with Santa Paws?"

"I mean, hooves are basically horse paws, aren't they?" I pull my lip between my teeth, but their eyes narrow even further. "Oh, come on. We all know the theme is animals plus Christmas."

"Do we?" The two of them smirk.

"Really? The two of you are going to get me disqualified over semantics?" I take a sip of my coffee. Ah, it's nice and warm. "That's loser behavior."

"No, yours is cheating behavior. But also..." Nic leans closer to Laurens' ear. "We can still bring this home."

"What is a carousel compared to dog treats and hugs? Right?”

Lauren stares at her. Then, as if on cue, both of their faces fall. "Ah, Kieran, I hate you."

"Don't hate the future winner, hate the game." I cackle and shrug off my jacket. Only it’s the exact same person in this case.

I take a bite of my cinnamon roll and let out a happy hum.

Dick is hanging out with Shadow behind the counter, which Caleb only allows because Dick listens to him. I swear to God, he’s an angel with everyone but me. How frustrating.

"But if this is the level we're talking about..." Lauren clicks her tongue and leans back in her chair. "I will have to step up my game for next year."